SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has dealt a blow to prosecutors' case against two aging college professors accused of helping run an online prostitution ring.

The state's high court denied Wednesday prosecutors' requests to overturn a lower court's ruling that nothing in state law made the website illegal.

A state judge in June ruled that the website "Southwest Companions" linked to former University of New Mexico president F. Chris Garcia and retired Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory violated no laws.

Both were arrested by Albuquerque police in June 2011 on charges of promoting prostitution after a yearlong police investigation into an alleged multistate operation.

Michael Fricke, deputy district attorney for Bernalillo County, says prosecutors will reevaluate the case.